Weight management through reduction of excess body fat plays a vital role in maintaining good health and fighting disease. Medical evidence has shown that excess body fat poses a major threat to health and longevity. Excess body fat is linked to major physical threats, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. A certain amount of fat, however, is essential to bodily functions. Fat regulates body temperature, cushions and insulates organs and tissues, and is the main form of the body's energy storage.
Weight alone is not a clear indicator of good health, because it does not distinguish between pounds that come from body fat and those that come from lean body mass or muscle. Various body fat measuring devices have been developed to better quantify the amount of body fat as a percentage of total body mass. Although many of these devices provide accurate body fat measurements, such devices tend to be expensive and offer limited functionality beyond a basic measuring capability.
As contemporary lifestyles have become increasingly fast-paced and complicated, the number of personal electronic devices carried on the person has increased. It is not uncommon for an individual to carry a cellular phone, a PDA, some form of calculator, a pager, and a portable personal medical device, such as a body fat measuring device, heart rate monitor or pedometer, for example. The inconvenience of physically transporting and accounting for such devices often results in eliminating certain devices from one's personal inventory of devices. In many cases, personal medical devices, such as body fat monitoring devices, which can enhance exercise regimens and provide motivation for healthier lifestyle habits, are cast aside in favor of more utilitarian devices, such as the now ubiquitous cellular phone.
There is a need for integration of mobile communications and health promoting devices, such as body fat monitoring devices. The present invention addresses this and other needs, and provides additional features and advantages over conventional implementations and techniques.